"A renowned technology investor, champion of innovation and true partner to entrepreneurs, many knew Harry to be bold, brilliant and passionate," NEA says on a tribute to Weller on its website." To those who knew him best, he was equally remarkable for his kind heart and generous spirit. Harry was a deeply devoted father, husband and friend."

Weller led NEA's east coast practice and had been recognized for his work by making the Forbes "Midas List" for 9 straight years. He currently served on the boards of at least a dozen companies, including Appian and MongoDB. Among his investments of note in the tech world: AddThis, Eloqua and OPower (all acquired by Oracle); Groupon; SolidFire (snapped up by NetApp); SourceFire (Cisco bought it); webMethods (acquired by Software AG); and Vertica (acquired by HP).

An outpouring of thoughts about Weller have been shared by friends, colleagues and others who knew of the VC. Among those feeling Weller's loss is TrackMaven CEO Allen Gannett, who has shared some of his thoughts (and an awkward Taylor Swift moment) about his "lead investor, board member, and friend" in a public Facebook post. Gannett writes "The reason this is so shocking is not just that he was 46. It was that Harry was the most alive person anyone knew. He was on the top of his career..."

Here's a look back at Weller speaking a few years ago about enterprise technology.

Bob Brown is a news editor for Network World, blogs about network research, and works most closely with our staff's wireless/mobile reporters. Email me at bbrown@nww.com with story tips or comments on this post.